Reuben Walters

Name: Reuben Elijah Walters

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: Senior

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Tabletop gaming, TV and movies, video games, cheerleading (wears the mascot costume)

Appearance: Reuben stands at 6'3" and weighs 160 pounds. He's skinny and pale due to his lack of physical activity, and though he eats healthily and isn't emaciated, he does have barely noticeable muscle mass, giving him a lanky, awkward appearance. He is Caucasian and has a pointed chin, a long thin nose, and shoulder-length black hair, parted in the middle to keep it out of his face. He has greenish blue eyes which appear large against his thin face and wears corrective lenses for his nearsightedness, keeping a pair of green wire-framed glasses in the front zipper pocket of his black laptop bag which he keeps with him at all times. As he has a tendency to get lost in his own thoughts, his eyes are often half-closed, with his thin lips pursed together and his forehead furrowed.

Reuben's choice of clothing is untucked t-shirts and blue jeans that are never long enough to reach his ankles, leaving his white socks visible at all times. His shirts are typically in muted colors of gray, black, and brown, featuring characters and icons from movies, TV shows, or video games. When he went on the school trip, he was wearing a black shirt with a Legend of Zelda logo on the back and the Wind Waker version of the series' main protagonist on the front. He was also wearing dark blue Wrangler jeans and black sneakers.

Biography: Reuben Walters was born to Nathaniel and Karen Walters, both of them Caucasian and of Western European descent. Nathaniel, unemployed and acting as a stay-at-home father, is easy-going and casual in his relationship with Reuben, allowing him to do whatever he likes as long as he isn't involved in anything illegal or deleterious to his GPA. They share common interests in horror, science fiction and fantasy media and often watch movies or play video games together. Karen, a financial consultant for a local investment savings firm, is stricter with her son and tries to push him to succeed. She often expresses disapproval with his performance in school, believing him to be more capable, and has attempted to restrict access to entertainment in the past in return for better grades, much to Reuben and Nathaniel's chagrin.

For her sake, and to avoid getting her angry, he has given a strong effort in his studies, consistently performing B-level work in his mathematics and foreign language courses and A-level work in his social studies and writing courses. His weakest subject is anything hands-on such as art class, shop class or chemistry due to his lack of grace and manual dexterity, but he still barely manages to keep a passing grade in those courses. His strongest class is anything relating to his interests, such as literature and film studies.

As a child, Reuben was exposed to various forms of media at a very early age. His father was and still is an avid gamer and lover of movies, and as a result, he encouraged his son to join in as a way for the two of them to bond. Reuben was hooked right from the get-go, and in particular, he loved the dialogue and character building in these stories, to the point where he began to attempt writing his own. He found that nothing he wrote was good enough though, nothing came out sounding right, and so he would find himself constantly discarding his drafts over the years. To date, he has never written anything longer than five pages in length, and even then, he would go back and delete it from his computer when he re-read it a few weeks later.

In school, Reuben was socially awkward and did not attempt to do anything that would stand out. This was not entirely successful. He was skinny, quiet, clumsy, and wore glasses in elementary, only switching to contacts in middle school, and this made him an easy target for bullies, a trait that has continued up until the modern day. He would eat alone at lunch, reading fantasy or science fiction novels at first, then switching to watching Netflix shows when he got his laptop. In middle school, in the early part of his writing phase, he began watching people at other tables, trying to find inspiration from their conversations and mannerisms. In high school, he would join a tabletop gaming club with some of his peers, analyzing character development through interactions with other people's characters and seeing how they logically flowed from one another. In person though, he was incapable of starting a conversation without stammering or double guessing himself, and he would rarely be the one to initiate said conversations.

One area where he has found confidence is in criticism and analysis. Having consumed so much entertainment over his entire life, he has an opinion on many forms of media, and is quick to offer it to anyone who listens. With his experience has come a bit of arrogance on the subject, and he has difficulty reconciling someone else's opinion with his own. This has led to some loud confrontations in the past where he's grown frustrated in a debate over aspects of popular culture and shouted at his peers, calling them wrong and misinformed. Aside from those occasional episodes, he has otherwise been kind and polite, even apologetic if he's in someone else's way.

Physically-speaking, Reuben has made little effort to improve himself, preferring to simply stop trying in gym and endure whatever humiliation that entails. His parents tried to get him to perform some physical activity when he was younger, signing him up for karate classes and forcing him to join a swim team. He was untalented at either of those, and his peers laughed at him when he tried, so eventually, he actively resisted going to classes, and his parents eventually gave up on them. This trend continued into high school, until one day, shortly after his growth spurt, he was approached by the cheerleading squad. They needed someone who could fit into the costume for the school's mascot: Hunter the Horned Owl, and he happened to be around when they went looking. Hesitant at first because of his history of ridicule, he suddenly realized that this was a perfect roleplaying exercise, and he eagerly agreed. Two days out of the week would be reserved for practice and drills, which on top of his tabletop club ended up giving him a lot to do besides lazing around all day.

As he approaches graduation, Reuben has no ambitions about his future schooling. Despite his mother pushing him to consider a career path, all he wants to do is be entertained, and he believes that there will be plenty of time after graduation to find something that interests him. He has expressed a desire to start his own blog and has even put together the framework for it on Tumblr, but it has been open for two months and he has not written a post for it yet. He is hesitant to expose himself to criticism online, even anonymously, and believes that he can start at any time, whenever he's in the right mood.

Advantages: Reuben has a creative mind suited to coming up with ideas on the fly. He has some friendly contacts with the cheerleading squad and the tabletop club which he could use to his advantage, and he knows how to keep a low profile.

Disadvantages: Reuben is also weak and clumsy. He is uncharismatic and is easily flustered when he disagrees on something, which is unlikely to gain him a lot of allies. In addition, he is easily discouraged and has difficulty committing to things. Should he lose his glasses, his nearsightedness may also be an issue.

Designated Number: Male student No. 041

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Designated Weapon: Kimberly Nguyen’s KABAR combat knife

Conclusion: Congratulations B041, your lack of commitment has really left you worse off now. Maybe try and fix that, or don't. Not like I give a shit. - Josie Knight

'The above biography is as written by Blastinus. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Blastinus

Kills: None

Killed By: Teresa Rojas

Collected Weapons: Kimberly Nguyen’s KABAR combat knife (assigned weapon, to Teresa Rojas), Bear Trap (from Jessica Rennes, to Teresa Rojas)

Allies: Teresa Rojas

Enemies: Desiree Beck, Terra Johnson, Jessica Rennes, Teresa Rojas

Mid-game Evaluation: Reuben started out too paralyzed to take action, sitting alone in the temple area. He was drawn to the crying and stumbling about of Teresa Rojas, and against his better judgement he approached her and asked what was wrong. She, however, had only been faking the tears.

They hastily allied together under common pretense- to murder, as needed. Their first mark was Desiree Beck, wandering the lower wilderness, but the presence of an obstinate goat accidentally caused Reuben to reveal himself while Teresa had been trying to lull Desiree into a false sense of security. As they stared down Desiree it became clear the two of them weren't on the same page- Teresa was fine with mere robbery, while Reuben believed that depriving someone of supplies was crueler than killing them. Teresa rebutted- they'd be targets if they appeared on announcements. They had no time to continue their improvised strategics- a suspicious Terra Johnson confronted them. That bought Desiree time to start booking it, and when Teresa gave up the goose and started to chase Terra threw herself between. Desiree was gone, but Terra stayed, insisting that the two properly reflect on what they were trying to do. Reuben rebutted, physically with his knife, and blindly scored a stab onto Terra's palm. Spooked, she lost her courage and fled. Teresa had managed to throw a rock in the interim, and scored a bludgeon on Reuben, but he was more shaken by the inescapable truth of what he'd tried to do to another human being. They had Desiree's supplies now, and proper time to plan and banter. Reuben pointed out that Terra and Desiree might start talking to others, and that they'd need better plans going forward.

Reuben's approach, which entertained Teresa greatly, was to set a trap, using Desiree's pilfered bag as bait while they hid in a shadowy area of the waterfall cave in ambush. Their downtime waiting was interrupted by the arrival of Jessica Rennes, who started to call out for the bags owner while searching its contents. Teresa rushed in- too soon, Reuben belatedly realized, to have a clean shot with his knife. Jessica violently struggled, making it difficult for either Teresa or Reuben to decisively accomplish anything. Reuben started to stomp, Jessica pleading for mercy while Reuben demanded her supplies, drenched as he was with adrenaline. Jessica claimed she had no good weapon, but Reuben was sure it was a bluff and lunged. Jessica jumped backwards. Tumbled over a rock outcropping, and straight off the precarious ledge that separated cave from the lake below. Reuben, holding onto the bag he'd grabbed at, started to fall with her. He only barely held on, until Teresa could rescue him. Though shocked that he'd murdered somebody, he was ultimately relieved that he'd survived, and grateful to Teresa as they once more pilfered the spoils.

A restless night of planning culminated in Reuben learning Jessica had not died, throwing all his assumptions into limbo once again. As they wandered through the Serenity Circle they stumbled onto Nona Hart, Garnet Barnes, and Christina Rennes, leading to an awkward introduction. Their appearance cause Nona to freak out and run, Garnet pursued their friend. They were left alone with Christina, and Reuben's attempts to play nice and wait for an opportunity to strike were cut short by Teresa outright admitting what they'd done to Christina's sister. He was furious with Teresa now, and had no choice but to honestly recount what had happened. Christina, understandably, brandished her weapon for space then fled.

Reuben was relieved another fight they weren't properly prepared for hadn't broken out- he then confronted Teresa promptly on their lack of strategy and miscommunications. Teresa was more blase than Reuben liked, Reuben pointed out more dangerous enemies than the ones they'd so far faced would be far harder to overcome. Teresa continued to stick to her guns, saying she preferred to play loose for a reason, an annoyed Reuben let out all his frustration onto her, pointing out that her 'having fun' would get them both killed. She was actively trying to play a 'game', which Reuben couldn't believe, and he decided he'd turn tail there and leave, before her mentality put him in any more danger. He was in danger anyways, the moment he turned his back to her. She lassoed him with her whip, dragging him close. With momentum he tried to turn the tables and attack, but he was tripped up and landed on his face. She wrestled him down, and stabbed him with his own knife. Teresa fled. That left Reuben to try and piece himself together, but he was so weak it didn't matter, and eventually he could only accept that he'd been played for a fool from the beginning, slowly bleeding out over the course of a day. He did make it to Day 3, essentially, through no merit of his own.

Post-Game Evaluation: I can't tell which of them would be wearing the 'I'm With Stupid' shirt. Close call, could go either way. - Christina Stockton 

Memorable Quotes: "...to win." - His very simple reasoning for attacking Jessica, as said directly to her face.

"I feel like, maybe, we're not actually communicating." - Sum total of his alliance with Teresa

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Reuben, in chronological order.

V7 Pregame: The Trip: V7:
 * Desperate Times
 * V for Vend-etta
 * The Curse of Miss Celie
 * The Good in Everyone (#SwiftBall)
 * Reflections (#SwiftBall)
 * Room 714: Den of the Nerds
 * Put on Your Game Face
 * LMAO they made Fortnite into a real thing!
 * R T J 3 M O T H E R F U C K E R S
 * His Whole Life Packed In Two Bags, Just Two Bags

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Reuben Walters. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * Reuben is a character who surprised me several times. When he first debuted in Pregame, he was one of the nicest characters around, albeit painfully awkward at most points. He also filled a beautiful niche in the school ecosystem I usually forget about, which made him strangely iconic even to the other characters. His story tapered off when his handler became less active for a time, but he remained one of the more popular characters from the early part of Pregame, and one who was often spoken of fondly. And then, when final apps rolled around, there was Reuben, back to take part in the game just when I'd been consoling myself that, oh well, maybe we'd at least see him in Meanwhile eventually.

And of course, what did Reuben do as soon as he hit the ground in-game? Why, he turned villain, of course. What made this so good, what made him such a successful antagonist, was the way the setup was handled. Reuben in Pregame was a legitimately nice, awkward dude, and Reuben on the island was obviously that same nice, awkward dude, just forced by the horrible circumstances he found himself in to try to be something else. And he was able to make himself, mostly, though it wasn't always easy. He wasn't malicious. He could be hasty, but just because he hated the in-between uncertainty. He could be bloodthirsty, but mostly because he thought he had to be, or saw it as actually less cruel. Part of what made his workings a success was the inspired pairing with Teresa, a troublemaker with a penchant for goading others. Teresa was able to poke Reuben further down the dark path while at the same time complicating their plans such that Reuben could never get comfortable, as she might ease up the throttle at exactly the wrong moment. It was a great dynamic, and stood out well even in a stage of the game where several other duos were doing the robbery thing.

Of course, Reuben's luck ran out nice and early. At the time, it was a shock and certainly a bit of a letdown, not because his end and death are bad (they are, in fact, quite good) but because Reuben was such a well-drawn character that losing him so soon felt like a shame. In hindsight, however, I've come around on this point. Reuben's handler departed not too long afterwards, and I don't think Reuben is a character who would've done particularly well under new management. As-is, Reuben's story is brief but great, basically every point a character highlight. It's complete and feels right, and his greatest strength—his character work—is on full display. Could he have gone on to do more? Sure. But he's a really solid character with a great voice and a tragic arc, and he manages the shift from lovable mascot (literally) to budding villain with the sort of slickness that people pondering a similar turn would do well to study. That's more than enough to secure him a positive legacy. - MurderWeasel